Chapter Eleven Loki

"C ome on," I said at last, waving for Heimdall to follow. "We're not gonna get out through here."

"We haven't even tried yet."

"That hole is in the center of the room over a pool of water. Not to mention, the rope is rotten. How do you plan on getting out through there?"

"I… I don't know!"

"Exactly. Come on."

"Don't you think we should at least look?"

I rounded on him in an instant, pointing my finger in his face. "Remember what happened last time you decided to tell me I was wrong? Or am I supposed to believe your brain has grown three sizes since then because you sure as fuck aren't acting like it."

Heimdall just stared at me, not even attempting to defend himself.

"That's what I thought. Now come on. We need to see if the cave continues. I want to get the hell out of here."

"You're kind of bossy, you know that?" he grunted, a bemused smirk pulling at the corner of his mouth. "You've got a lot of spunk for such a dinky Alpha ."

I was up in his face in a flash, my nostrils flared in anger. "Don't fucking call me that."

"Stop calling me Hamball then."

My heart thudded in my chest. "No. Fuck you."

"Then lead the way, Dinky ."

It took everything I had not to punch him right then and there. But there was something else too, a little twinge in my groin that annoyed me even more. That nickname would've made me start swinging with anyone else. But with Heimdall… well, I almost liked it. And that was probably the most irritating thing I'd ever experienced.

Turning away from him with a huff, I made the wide circle around the cavern, Heimdall close behind. For a moment it looked as if there wouldn't be another way out, that we'd come to a dead end at last. But as I shifted my phone light toward the floor, I noticed an opening near the edge of the pool. Crouching down, I saw the hole was about three feet across and a couple feet tall. Getting down on my belly, I crawled my way inside, trying to see if it led anywhere.

"What are you doing?" Heimdall scoffed, but I didn't reply.

Pushing my way in, I felt the sudden pressure of having thousands of tons of rock hovering over me. The entire situation gave me an uneasy feeling. But I had plenty of room and despite the anxiety, it was easy to breathe. I'd gone about ten feet when the cavern suddenly opened up again. There I was suddenly struck with the sound of running water over smooth stone. I'd heard traces of it back at the well, but I figured it was coming from above. However, the closer I got, the more it sounded like an entire river running underground.

I pulled myself through to the other side, coming out on a small flat area. A few feet to my left was the water, rushing through the cave along a path it had carved for itself long ago. Shining my light upriver, I saw it spouting forth from a hole in the stone. I'd hoped it was coming from outside so we could follow it up and out. But that didn't seem to be the case. However, as I pointed my light downstream, I saw that it curved away into the darkness, a ledge on either side where we could walk.

But then my light caught something else in the water.

Leaning down at the edge of the river, I held the phone out over the water, confirming my suspicions. There were, to my great surprise, a couple of trout swimming against the current. Even with just the light of my phone, I could see the fish were pale compared to their kind outside the cave. Not only that, but their eyes were milky and they didn't react to the light at all.

They were blind.

Obviously, the fish had spent most of their lives in total darkness. However, the fact that they could live there at all must mean there was a way to the outside world downstream. How else would they get food or leave to spawn? Fish didn't just spontaneously burst out of the rocks. There had to be a way for them to get in there in the first place.

"Find anything?" Heimdall called, pulling me from my thoughts. His voice echoed through the small passage and I was surprised how far away it sounded. "You're making me a little nervous."

"There's a river here," I called back, crouching down by the hole. "And fish. It must lead to the outside."

"Fish? In a cave?"

"Uh-huh," I said, rolling my eyes. "There must be an exit somewhere this way. We just have to follow the water. So come on through."

There was a long pause.

"You… You want me to crawl through that ?"

I couldn't see Heimdall, but I knew he meant the passage.

" Yes ," I sighed, clearly exasperated. "It's plenty big enough. Just come on."

"But… it's such a tiny hole… I don't think I'm gonna fit."

I don't know if it was the hunger or the stress of the situation, but I suddenly burst out laughing at that. It took a good thirty seconds before I could calm down enough to actually answer Heimdall.

"Buddy," I called back, wiping the tears from my eyes, "I guarantee you're not as big as you think you are."

Even through the tunnel, I could hear his huff of frustration. "That's what you think," he grumbled.

I ignored him. "Come on! It's just a tiny tunnel! What's the big deal?"

"I'm fucking freaked out about it, okay?" he shot back. "I don't like small spaces! Or crawling! Or being underground for that matter!"

Taking a deep breath, I crouched down and looked back down the tunnel. I could see Heimdall's terrified expression in the dim light. And, if my eyes weren't deceiving me, he might have actually been shaking . Somehow, the entire thing was kind of adorable. Annoying, but adorable.

"Look," I said, forcing myself not to laugh or make fun of him. "We can't get out that way. But this river leads to the outside. I know it's freaky, but you gotta do it. There's no other way out and I'm pretty sure starving to death down here is worse than crawling through a tunnel."

His expression told me he agreed but was still apprehensive. "What if I get stuck?"

"Then I'll get you out. We're in a truce, remember?"

"The truce is not to kill one another. Not to save each other."

"Well, I already saved you once," I replied, tilting my head to the side. "Can't you trust me to do it again?"

He took a few seconds before he nodded slowly, his gaze fixed on mine. "I… I trust you."

A rush of warmth filled my chest as butterflies filled my stomach. I liked those words on his lips. A lot .

"Come on," I said, holding a hand out. "I'm right here."

I wasn't sure why I added that last part. Heimdall probably still hated me. He'd kissed me of course, but I figured that was just the adrenaline of the moment after I'd saved his life. Sure, there was the whole mate thing happening in my head, which I was doing everything I could to ignore. Besides, I had no guarantee he felt the same. And I wasn't gonna bring it up either. It was all just too much and too confusing to worry about right now when our lives were on the line.

But I was sure that I wanted to help him escape this cavern. I wanted us both to walk into the sunshine once more and breathe the fresh mountain air. Once we did that, we could figure out the rest of it. But I just didn't have time to dwell on all those overwhelming feelings at that moment. There was too much at stake.

"You promise you'll pull me out if I get stuck?" he asked one more time just to be sure.

"Yes," I nodded. "I promise."

He let out a long, defeated sigh. "Alright. But just stay right there, okay? I need something to focus on that's not this tiny ass tunnel."

I did as I was bidden, lying flat on my belly at the end of the tunnel. I kept my eyes on Heimdall as he worked up the courage to finally get down on his stomach and begin working his way through the tunnel. Getting started was the hard part. But once he was going, he didn't seem to have much issue. I, however, kept my comments to myself. There were several sarcastic ones floating around my head. And the others weren't helpful either. While I'd made it through the tunnel with easy, Heimdall really did have to squeeze his way through.

The dude was fucking massive . Standing next to him I'd noticed his bulk of course, but I never realized how truly big he was until he was crawling his way toward me. His shoulders nearly touched the stone above him and more than once his perky ass got stuck. Each time he had to wiggle it free I had to force down my urge to wolf whistle at him. The soft grunts he made weren't helping either and before I knew it, I felt my cock lengthening against the hard stone floor.

It was a wholly inappropriate reaction, but I couldn't help it. The sweat and exertion made his intoxicating scent so strong that I could smell nothing else. Laying there, a few feet away from him, I was getting a face full of it with every breath. Not that I minded of course.

There were several small realizations that happened as well. The first of which was how much I admired his strength. Usually, when it came to women, I liked them petite and kinda helpless. It made me feel like a big strong man, something that I really wasn't thanks to my diminutive size. For an alpha, I was puny. But staring at Heimdall made me realize I didn't want to be the bigger one in this duo. I wanted to be scooped up in those big arms of his and held tight against his massive pecs. All those muscles made me swoon and in my mind's eye, I could see him over top of me, his massive body crushing me as he kissed and sucked and…

"Loki?"

My vision crystalized and I realized I'd been daydreaming. Heimdall was only a foot in front of me now, his body wedged between the stones. He was looking more nervous than ever.

"Yeah?"

"Help me," he said, a note of begging in his tone. "It's really tight here."

I nodded, reaching my hand out to clasp his forearm. "I got you."

Using just my upper body, I managed to pull him to the edge of the opening, just his head and shoulders sticking out. But then, as I tried to pull him further, I heard him grunt. He wouldn't budge.

That's when the hyperventilating started.

"I'm stuck…" Heimdall gasped, panic filling his features. "Oh fuck… oh fuck!"

I let go of his hand and got close, our faces only inches apart. "Hey. Look at me. You're not stuck, okay?"

"Yes, I am," he cried, tears forming in his eyes. "I'm gonna fucking die here…"

"No, you're not."

But he wasn't listening. He was breathing faster and faster, his hands clawing out at anything he could reach. But no matter how much he strained and panicked, he couldn't get himself free.

"Stuck… stuck… stuck…" he repeated over and over again.

"Heimdall."

"Stuck… stuck… "

"Hey!"

He just kept going on, his fingers leaving bloody streaks behind as he tore through his skin. The man was gonna kill himself if he didn't calm the fuck down. But how could I get through to him? He wasn't listening to me and nothing I did, even yelling, seemed to get his attention.

An idea struck me and before I could talk myself out of it, I reached out and grabbed his face. He looked up at me just in time to see me pulling close, our lips pressing together once more.